NEWS TICKER, TUESDAY, MARCH 3RD 2015: The number of Spaniards registered as unemployed fell by 13,538 people in February, a fall of 0.3%. Even so, the government acknowledges that a massive 4,512,153 people remain without work. In a press release, the Ministry for Employment says said reduction in jobless was best monthly improvement in February since 2001. Seasonally-adjusted unemployment fell by 49,653 people. The government also says 300,333 fewer unemployed people since February 2014 was: "the largest year-on-year reduction in unemployment since 1999". The total number of unemployed Spaniards this month—the fourth February with Mariano Rajoy as Prime Minister—was still higher than all of the February data points for the last four years of the Zapatero government. The number of people registered with Spain's social security system rose by 96,909 in February - Record high inflows send Japanese ETFs’ AUM higher, surpassing $160bn. The Apac region excluding Japan has also seen strong inflows, pushing the AUM mark past $78bn. Investors are still avoiding the riskiest names in the region; firms whose CDS spreads have widened the most have seen negative returns - CBOE Futures Exchange reports February average daily volume in VIX futures was 166,547 contracts, a decrease of 23% from February 2014 and a decrease of 27% from January 2015. Total volume in VIX futures for February was 3.2m contracts, down 23% from a year ago and down 31% from the previous month - The Straits Times Index (STI) ended +1.03 points higher or +0.03% to 3403.89, taking the year-to-date performance to +1.15%. The FTSE ST Mid Cap Index declined -0.39% while the FTSE ST Small Cap Index declined -1.14%. The top active stocks were SingTel (+0.47%), DBS (-1.48%), OCBC Bank (-0.86%), Noble (-3.08%) and UOB (-0.04%). The outperforming sectors today were represented by the FTSE ST Consumer Goods Index (+0.68%). The two biggest stocks of the FTSE ST Consumer Goods Index are Wilmar International (+0.31%) and Thai Beverage (+2.14%). The underperforming sector was the FTSE ST Basic Materials Index, which declined -3.44% with Midas Holdings’ share price gaining +1.61% and Geo Energy Resources’ share price declining -1.57%.
The three most active Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) by value today were the STI ETF (-0.29%), IS MSCI India (+0.37%), SPDR Gold Shares (+1.10%). The three most active Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) by value were Ascendas REIT (+1.62%), CapitaCom Trust (-0.57%), CapitaMall Trust (+1.90%). The most active index warrants by value today were HSI25000MBeCW150330 (-7.69%), HSI24200MBePW150429 (-3.94%), HSI24400MBePW150330 (-7.32%). The most active stock warrants by value today were OCBC Bk MBeCW150803 (-13.56%), UOB MB eCW150701 (-1.97%), DBS MB eCW150420 (-22.61%).

The FTSE Cürex FX Index Series provides the next generation of FX valuation and performance benchmarking for global capital markets. By establishing real-time bid and offer spot FX indices on 192 currency pairs (FTSE Cürex FIX), from multiple independent contributors and at multiple depths of liquidity, global capital markets benefit from improved clarity when viewing previously opaque foreign exchange pricing. William Dale, chairman and chief executive at Cürex Group explains that the new index series “represents a step forward in the evolution of the global foreign exchange marketplace [and] enables … both buy side and sell side leaders seeking to provide more competitive products and liquidity to the world’s capital markets.”

New executable benchmark currency baskets include the flagship FTSE Cürex USD/G8 Index, an equally weighted, real-time index designed to provide an improved valuation of the US Dollar. The index consists of seven major currencies representative of global finance and commodity trading, plus the Chinese Renminbi—the most important emerging Asian reserve currency. These new benchmark FX Indices also can be used to measure the performance of active currency strategies, and provide new tools for investors seeking to express a ‘risk on/risk off’ trade.

New proprietary and patented technologies have been developed by Cürex Group specifically to connect previously fragmented foreign exchange market liquidity with investment products linked to FTSE Cürex FX Indices. These technologies, say FTSE Group, allow asset managers and their service providers to build custom FX Indices from proprietary or third party asset pricing models for both analytic and product development purposes. Cürex Intellectual Property will enable a new generation of both exchange-traded and OTC financial products that are linked to FTSE Cürex FX Indices and utilise Cürex technologies designed to directly link institutional foreign exchange liquidity to financial products tracking FTSE Cürex FX Indices. This new capability will allow passive asset managers to reduce tracking error and liquidity providers such as Delta One desks to improve their hedging and risk management practices.

Benchmark Execution (BE) and Benchmark or Better Execution (BOBE) models can now be employed by third-party electronic and voice brokering FX platforms via principal transactions or STP to the FTSE Cürex FX Index liquidity pool. These new benchmark FX Indices also can be used to measure relative performance of active currency overlay strategies. Investors seeking to express a ‘risk on / risk off’ trade can alsouse these indices to implement this trade.